License tag scanner nabs felon with guns
by MIKE MORRIS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
A convicted felon from Snellville was arrested after a Gwinnett County deputy using a high-tech device that scans license plates found nine guns and more than 1,200 rounds of ammunition in his vehicle.
When William Harold Brown drove past Deputy James Redfern on Indian Trail Road, the license plate recognition system installed in Redfern’s patrol car alerted him that the tag on Brown’s 1998 Hyundai Accent was stolen, said Gwinnett sheriff’s spokeswoman Stacey Bourbonnais.
The deputy followed Brown, 34, until he stopped at a nearby laundromat Monday, Bourbonnais said.
“The deputy approached Mr. Brown, spoke with him and informed him he was under arrest for having a stolen license plate on his vehicle,” she said.
Brown then told the deputy “that there were a lot of weapons in his vehicle and that he had just returned from shooting,” Bourbonnais said.
“Deputy Redfern located in the vehicle two shotguns, one rifle, six handguns and a large case that contained 1,249 rounds of ammunition for the different guns,” she said.
Deputies later discovered that Brown had a prior burglary conviction in South Carolina.
“Because he is a convicted felon, he is not allowed to own firearms,” Bourbonnais said. “He was charged with nine counts of possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, theft by receiving and driving with a suspended/revoked drivers license.”
Brown is being held without bond in the Gwinnett County Jail.
Bourbonnais said the sheriff’s department purchased the license plate recognition system with grant money about a month and a half ago.
The device uses infrared cameras to scan passing license plates, and instantly compares them to license numbers of wanted felons, stolen vehicles and license plates and other vehicles being sought by authorities.
Bourbonnais said deputies also drive through county parks with the system, scanning for license plates of registered sex offenders, who are prohibited from going to public parks.
“It reads up to 15 vehicles per second, and it can read a vehicle traveling up to 120 miles per hour,” Bourbonnais said.
“We’ve already made about 20 arrests,” she said. “Most have been wanted people, but we have recovered some stolen vehicles and license plates.”
The devices cost $22,950 each, and Bourbonnais said the department is “hoping to find additional grant money to get additional systems because we’ve had a lot of success with this one system that we have.”
License tag scanner nabs felon with guns | ajc.com
Automatic number plate recognition - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
License Plate Recognition - A Tutorial
GA License tag scanner nabs felon with guns
Linear Mode
